Tag Archives: faith

January 19, 2017 · 5:00 AM

Shortcuts To God


I was in junior high when we got the classic Nintendo. My brothers and I would spend hours playing “Super Mario Bros.” To win, you had to conquer eights worlds with four levels each. I remember when my dad would play, he would try to go through all four levels of each eight worlds. We would get so upset at him for taking the long way. We’d say, “But, Dad! If you go down that tunnel, you can skip to the fourth world.” He refused to do it, and thought any other way was an illegitimate way to beat the game.

We couldn’t understand why he did it the hard way when clearly there were shortcuts to win. The problem became that I, like many others, took that same philosophy in my approach to God. Why do it the hard way if there were shortcuts? Why not find the easiest path to walk as a Christian? I can attest that taking shortcuts to God only pushes you further away and back to the beginning. There is no shortcut to Him or to living the life He’s called us to live.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention” (MSG). He was warning us to stay away from those shortcuts like the tunnels that skipped levels in the game. Just because they’re there, and other people are taking them, it doesn’t mean we should take them.

A life of faith, and trusting God, is not an easy path. We walk by faith and not sight, remember? There’s no shortcut through a life like that. God’s desire for each of us is to mature in our faith through the process of walking it out daily. It is often vigorous and difficult at times. It can be hard to trust His path when we can only see what’s right in front of us. However, if we remain faithful, take each step as He gives it, and trust Him, we will have a faith that is strong and unshakable. We will find true life. 

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January 18, 2017 · 8:27 AM

How To Pray Eloquently 


I was in need of prayer recently, and a friend came to visit me. We talked about everything going on and caught up on a few things. Before he left, he asked, “Do you mind if I pray for you before I leave?” I nodded. He then said, “My prayers aren’t that eloquent though.” I replied, “God listens more to our heart than our words.” After we prayed and he left, I began to think about that. How many of us hold back on prayers because we think it’s the eloquence of our prayers that cause God to reply?

God is not like us. He is not impressed by our mastery of language. He isn’t moved by flowery speech. He looks into our heart and sees our intent. We’ve grown so accustomed to having please and impress others that we think we have to do it with God. Religiosity is the art of impressing others while making a show of our faith. God doesn’t respond to that because He doesn’t like it.

In Matthew 6:7-8, Jesus said, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (NLT) God knew I was in need of prayer. He didn’t need an eloquent prayer that explained what was going on and what I needed. What He needed was our faith to trust Him with the problem.

Prayer is not about saying the right words the right way. It’s about trusting God with the things we can’t handle. My son often wants things and hints at it, but I always say, “Use your words.” I think our Father in Heaven does the same. He knows we need it, but He’s teaching us to communicate with Him through prayer. Your communication skills don’t have to be excellent either. Your heart is what matters. Initiate the conversation with Him and open up your heart. Those are the most eloquent prayers He ever heard.

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January 16, 2017 · 5:37 AM

Our Guide


If you’ve ever been hiking or mountain climbing, there’s a couple of ways to do it. You can do it on your own or you can have a guide. I’ve tried it both ways, and having a guide is far more enjoyable. When I’ve done it on my own, I didn’t really know the right path, how long it would take, where the best photo ops were, or where good places to take a break were. Having a guide took a lot of stress out of the journey.

Each of us are on a path in life. The truth is, we are all trying to make our own way, but we don’t know if we are on the right path, where to rest, how long it will take, or where the most scenic places are. We make mistakes, go the wrong way, and are often the blind leading the blind through life. We know there has to be a better way, and there is. We can have the Lord as our guide if we’re willing to follow.

Psalm 1:6 says, “The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord” (GNT). With God as our guide, we can trust He knows the right path to take us down, when to have us rest, and where we are going. When I trust my guide, I don’t have to know where exactly I’m going and can enjoy the journey more. I simply follow where the guide leads because He knows the best way. It’s really about trusting the guide to get me where I’m going.

Whatever path you’re on today, stop and ask God to be your guide. Commit to following where He leads. It may not be down the paths you expect, but He knows the best way to get you where He wants to lead you. Trust the guidance you find in Him and in His Word. He’s the one who leads us beside still water and restores our soul. He knows the way we should go. It’s time we walked by faith, trusting in Him and His path to where we’re going.

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January 11, 2017 · 6:05 AM

An Open Posture


One of the things I talk to people about is their body language. You can covey a lot of meaning without saying a word simply by your posture. An open body posture, where the hands are at your side and you’re facing the other person, tells them you’re open and receptive to what they’re telling you. A closed posture, where your arms are folded and you body is slightly turned away, conveys that you are not open to what they have to say. There are the two I want to focus on today.

What is your body language toward God? Are you open and receptive to all He wants to do in your life or are you closed off towards Him? Don’t answer too quickly. The natural human nature answer is to say we are open, but how often are we willing to stay in the center of God’s will when it includes pruning or shaping? How often do we give God full autonomy over our life to do with as He wants?

Often we are like a two year old child who has been told to do something they don’t want to. Our arms are folded, our bottom lip is out, and we turn away when God is asking us to do something we do t want to. Look no further than Jonah if you need an example of this behavior. God won’t always use a large fish to swallow us in order to get repentance from us though. He often patiently waits for us as He tries to build us into the person He wants us to be. He’s waiting for us to be open and receptive to all He wants to do. 

Jude 1:20-21 says, “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” (MSG) We are to have an open posture towards God, staying in His will, as we are being built into our most holy faith. We need to unfold our arms before God so we can receive from Him what He wants to do in our lives. We need to change our posture if we really want to grow.

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January 10, 2017 · 5:18 AM

Stretching


I saw a funny exchange that a friend of mine put on Facebook. A person told her, “I didn’t think a Christian would be so into yoga.” She replied, “You’re right. Christians don’t normally stretch.” It hit me that she’s right more than she knows. While she was talking about physically stretching, I was thinking of spiritually stretching. It’s not something that most of us do. We prefer to leave things the way they are and to not be challenged.

Brian Tracy speaks to the Law of Inertia. It says that people continue doing what they’re doing until they’re acted upon by an outside force. It’s not until we face a trial or gave a bad day that we wake from our zombie-like spiritual existence and begin to stretch spiritually. If we don’t voluntarily stretch, God is happy to be that outside force that moves us off the path we are on. He’s not content with our spiritual contentment.

We shouldn’t be either. We should each desire to be the best Christian we can be, to have a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Christ. The problem is that desire is only part of the equation. The other part is that we test our faith, push our spiritual limits and strive for the high calling in Christ Jesus. Stretching prepares us for growth. If we don’t stretch, the growth will be painful.

I’ve been in sports my whole life. Stretching has always been a part of every workout, every practice and every game. It warms up the muscles that we are about to use. I Timothy 4:8 says, “Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way.” Paul understood that our spirit needs exercise. If it needs exercise, it needs stretching. The way we do that is to put our faith to the test. We believe God for more than we think possible. I heard He’s able to do abundantly more than I could even ask or think, So why not think big?

If you don’t like to stretch, you’re not alone. Don’t wait for an outside force from God to get you to stretch your faith. Find ways today to stretch it out. Give more than you thought you could give (I’m not just talking about money here). Go farther than you thought you could go. Step into waters that are deeper than you’ve been in. Believe for more than you think is possible and watch what a God does. Don’t be a Christian who doesn’t like to stretch.
  

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January 9, 2017 · 5:39 AM

Losing To Win


Several years ago, when things were going downhill in my life, I started to get upset at God. I was losing everything. Several friends had abandoned me during the process. I lost my business, had a vehicle repossessed, lost my business, and had to file for bankruptcy. I cried out, “God, where are you?!? Why are you letting this happen to me? Have you abandoned me? Don’t you care that I’m losing everything?” I didn’t get an answer and I continued to lose more until I had nothing left to lose.

I didn’t think God was there in those moments. Every once in a while though, my friend and Sunday School teacher, would say, “Chris, I believe God wants me to say this to you…” While those messages were encouraging, and I believed they were from God, I wasn’t personally hearing from Him. I was doing my best to keep from getting bitter towards Him because I felt abandoned and was upset over everything I had lost. What I couldn’t see, was what I was really losing though. 

I realized later that I didn’t just lose a bunch of material things and relationships, I lost my pride. God used that time to strip me of pride that was keeping me from a deep relationship with Him. I also lost my dependence on my self. Somehow I thought that everything I had in life, I had earned on my own. I forgot that God was my source and Jehovah Jireh. Through all of that, I gained a deeper faith and a dependence on God to be who He wanted to be in my life. I just couldn’t see it when I was losing the things that I thought mattered.

I Peter 4:12-13 says, “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (MSG). God uses difficult times to refine us. When they come, the dross in our life floats to the top and is skimmed off by God. What’s left over is pure gold. If you’re in the thick of it now, don’t quit or think God doesn’t care. He’s refining you and cleaning out the things in your life that are keeping you from Him.

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January 5, 2017 · 5:27 AM

Retraining Your Thoughts


This is the time of year when a lot of people are making changes in their life. It’s a new year, so why not create a new you? We all know that New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep. There are scheduling conflicts, your body is not used to getting up early, gyms are crowded, and a whole other plethora of reasons why it’s difficult to keep your resolution. While most resolutions focus on your outward body, there’s one that focuses internally that I hope you’ll keep.

Proverbs 23:7 tells us that we are what we think. Your mind is very powerful. It tells you what to believe about yourself and others, and we always act according to our beliefs. If you are constantly telling yourself that you’re a nobody, that you’re fat, that you’re ugly, that you’re stupid, that no one cares for you, or any other negative thing, your body will respond accordingly. My hope for you this year, is that you’ll begin to change how you think so you can become who God sees you as.

To change how you think, you need to begin changing what you think about. Watch what you put into your mind, and also be vigilant about what you allow your mind to dwell on. Challenge the thoughts that aren’t true. Stop the thoughts that take you down the rabbit hole. This is tough, but it can be done. You can retrain your mind what to think by challenging what it already thinks. Hold it to the Philippians 4:8 standard.

That verse says, “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse”(MSG). Ask your mind, “Is that true?” If not, tell your mind what is true. You can change your life and it starts with how you think. You can do this! Tell yourself that and begin to believe it because it’s true. 

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January 4, 2017 · 6:07 AM

A Work In Progress


Several years ago, the housing market tanked. Before it did, new neighborhoods were going up everywhere. Commercial real estate was also doing well. Then, suddenly it seemed to stop. There’s evidence of this all over. When you drive through some neighborhoods, you can see just the frame of a house. It had been started, but not finished. There are also slabs of concrete around where buildings were going to be built. Now, they’re just reminders of a poor economy that once was booming.

As I drive through neighborhoods seeing half finished houses, it always makes me sad. I think of the family who had plans to live there. I think of the current residents whose property value is hurt by those ghost houses just sitting there decaying with the weather. It also makes me think of people whose lives are a lot like those houses. They started off strong, but somewhere down the path of life, tragedy hit, and their growth just stopped.

As believers, we aren’t exempt from those tragedies that aim to prevent our growth and completion. There are many Christians who have been hit with something out of the blue, and it simply paralyzed their future plans. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to think, “There’s no future for me so what’s the use in trying.” But those were my words, not God’s. His plan is to complete the work on your life despite what you’ve faced. He still has the blueprints and wants to complete you.

Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished” (NLT). God completes what He started. He will continue to make beauty from ashes. He can take our broken, unfinished lives, and create beautiful masterpieces. There is hope for you. God is not finished working on you. He will be faithful to resume the work and complete what He started in you. Don’t give up yet. You are a work in progress. 

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January 3, 2017 · 5:00 AM

A Love That Values Others


A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a man named Peter Strople. He was at the Re:Write conference as a speaker. Honestly, I had never heard of him even though he was known as the most connected man in America. When he got up to speak, you could see and sense his humility. It wasn’t what I was expecting from “the most connected man in America”. I quickly understood his humility and his ability to connect when he said his personal motto is “When in doubt, love.”

In a room full of writers who wanted to bless God with our talents, there was one person in the room who didn’t appear to belong. He had jet black hair done up like an 80’s band member. I think he even wore a leather vest that showed how his arms were covered in tattoos. Peter called him up to the stage to demonstrate what he meant. As he asked questions, diving into this man’s story, it was like watching a flower bloom. The one who was different, and an outcast, became the most beautiful thing in the room and everyone wanted to get to know him more.

Peter demonstrated what it mean to show love to someone. He didn’t just talk about it, he showed us how to do it. My whole life, I’ve read that we are to love one another, and have been taught about it as well from the pulpit. This was the first time I remember watching it in action and saw the result. Peter showed this man love by genuinely getting to know him and listened intently. It wasn’t about making himself look good. It was about valuing this person and showing them that they mattered.

Romans 13:10 says, “Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love” (MSG). Wherever you are today, there are people around you who need value added to them. Make a choice now to look for them and to show them love. Let’s not just talk about loving them, let’s do it. Don’t ignore someone because they’re different from you. Get to know they’re story and show them that they matter. 

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January 2, 2017 · 5:16 AM

2017 New Year’s Prayer


As is my custom for this site, here is a prayer for the new year that you can pray and make your own. I pray God’s blessings on your life this year.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We worship you and thank you for a new year. We thank you for the new mercies, greater grace, and fuller life that it will bring. May it be a year full of your favor in our lives. Keep your hand of blessing on us so that we can bless others. Open up doors that have been closed in the past. Lead us beside still water so that our souls are refreshed this year. Bring restoration to the parts of our lives that have been shattered and broken.

You alone are our strong foundation. You are the One we build our lives on. May we see growth and progress spiritually, financially, and emotionally in 2017. We know that you are good, and that you have good things for us. We give you the freedom to move and work in our lives this year as you see fit. Your plan for our lives is better than any plan we could ever come up with. We submit to you, your plans, and your goals for our lives.

Help us to have enough oil in our lamps to do the work you’ve called us to. Put the right people in our lives to stir up your gifts inside us, to move us in the direction you would have us go, and to maximize our potential. Help us to add value to our friends, family, and those who cross our path this year. Give us God ideas on how to build others up so they are rightfully restored to the people you created them to be.

Give us greater wisdom in all areas of our life so we make better choices this year. Give us discernment so we can know your voice, your path, and your direction in our lives. May this be a year of tremendous growth, productivity, and expansion for us and your Kingdom. Use us to spread your light, your life, and your compassion so that you will be lifted up and people will be drawn to you. Thank you in advance for all you’re going to do, and we give you all the honor and glory as we dedicate this year to you. 

In Jesus name we pray,

Amen!

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